USA Pickleball, the national governing body for the sport in the U.S., named Steve Wong as vice president of competition. Wong will oversee USA Pickleball’s competition department, emphasizing growing and streamlining all sanctioned tournament play, including national championships, regional tournaments and general sanctioning.
Wong was a USA Pickleball charter board member in 2005 and helped establish the organization. Along with fellow Hall of Fame inductee Mark Friedenberg, Wong has been “instrumental in building a structure for USAP, serving as its first webmaster and vice president during the organization’s first few years of operation.” The Seattle native returned to USA Pickleball in 2012 as co-director of the 2012 USA Pickleball National Championships.
“On behalf of our team, I am thrilled to welcome Steve back to USA Pickleball,” said Justin Maloof, USA Pickleball’s chief operating officer. “Steve was one of the first contacts I had the pleasure of meeting when I started at USA Pickleball a dozen years ago, and he’s been one of the most dedicated and impactful figures in pickleball over the last two decades.”
Throughout his time in pickleball, which began in 1991, Wong has been actively involved in all facets of the sport. In 2005, he created his first paddle company, S-Type Sports, making it the third commercially marketed line of paddles. It was later renamed Onix Sports and sold to Escalade Sports in 2015. In 2019, Wong launched Armour Pickleball, a maker of paddles, with pickleball friends. As part of his agreement with USAP, he has stepped down as CEO of Armour Pickleball.
Wong is also a six-time USA Pickleball National Champion, Canadian Nationals Champion, US Open Medalist, and Bainbridge Cup Medalist. Since 2009, he has won over 38 gold medals, 35 silver medals and 27 bronze medals. He is also credited as the co-founder of Arizona’s Surprise Pickleball Association and has spearheaded fundraising with that group to build pickleball courts in Surprise, AZ. Wong was inducted into the Pickleball Hall of Fame in 2021.
“I am beyond ecstatic to join USA Pickleball once again in this role of vice president of competition,” Wong said. “I hope to incorporate my history and passion for the game to propel the sport to the next level and someday see pickleball in the Olympics. I’m looking forward to serving the pickleball community, and I appreciate everyone’s support for USA Pickleball!”
Images courtesy USA Pickleball
